Catholic Peace Fellowship Collected Records

An educational service conducted by Catholic members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Catholic Peace Fellowship developed in the aftermath of the encyclical Pacem in Terris of Pope John XXIII in 1962. Activism included support for Vietnam era anti-war activists such as Daniel and Philip Berrigan.

The Catholic peace Fellowship (CPS) was founded in 1964 as "An Educational Service Conducted by Catholic Members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation." It offered "a film and tape library," as well as "training programs in nonviolent direction action," and "expert and immeditaely available legal and moral counseling for conscientious objectors, draft resisters and others with draft problems," among other services and programs. Penelope Adams Moons writes, "Founded in 1964 by Catholics close to the Catholic Worker Movement and to Thomas Merton, the well-known Cistercian monk, the CPF quickly became the epicenter around which American Catholics could protest the Vietnam War." The CPF focused a great deal on mailings and disseminating information and support for peace causes.